The Jedi Revolution 1 - Striking of the Sith
by Super Saiyan Ax
Summary: Two Jedi, Ax and Toby, join up with fellow Jedi Students Jacen, Jaina, and Zak to thwart an Evil Sith. But, is one of their own up to no good? A/U fic.


The Jedi Revolution  
  
  
  
  
Alternate Universes do exist...  
Each much like all the others...  
But, each unique in it's own way...  
And Now...  
A tale from an Alternate Universe...  
From a long time ago...  
From a Galaxy far, far away...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
P a r t O n e   
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
Narrated by:  
Ax  
  
  
  
  
Master Luke stepped up onto the stage, and the ceremony began. "We are here today to officially welcome the arrival of several new Jedi Trainees." Luke stated.  
  
I yawned. "How much longer is this gonna be?" I asked my friend, Toby.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" She replied.  
  
Jacen Solo, hearing their conversation, turned around and said, "Not much longer, thank goodness. I mean, I respect these ceremonies and all, but they can become quite boring."  
  
"My thoughts exactly." I said, as Luke led the new kids onto the stage.  
  
"Why, exactly, were you so eager to get to the ceremony?" I asked, referring to the way he ran to the Ceremonial Temple to get a good seat.  
  
"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," Jacen whispered, "last night, Uncle Luke encountered a Sith Warrior in a dream. He told me of this, and then told me that the old Jedi believed dreams were just a forewarning of what is to come."  
  
"So, Master Luke thinks there are Sith on Yavin 4?" Toby asked.  
  
"Well, he believes there are Sith here that are so powerful, he can't detect them with the Force, and that they are trying to lure some of the students to the dark side." Jacen told them.  
  
Luke introduced the children onstage. One of them was Corran Horn's son. Corran was a retired member of Rogue Squadron who had left when the Empire and the New Republic came to be at peace. He then trained until he became a full Jedi. Luke led the children offstage,and the ceremony ended. We got up and walked to our quarters. I followed Jacen down the narrow passage.  
  
"I wonder why Uncle Luke didn't mention his dream..." Jacen thougt aloud.  
  
I shrugged my shoulders and walked into my room, and Jacen went into his on the opposite side of the hall.  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
Narrated By:  
Toby  
  
  
  
  
I sat down on my bed, and wondered just what I should do. Luke had given us the rest of the day to relax, because of the ceremony. And now I was extremely bored. "Well, I could try to finish my lightsaber..." I thought to myself, wincing at the reminder of the incident of my old lightsaber.  
  
I got up off the bed and went to my workbench. Looking at the pieces, I thought that it wouldn't take too long to finish it. I picked up the handlebars I had taken off an old Imperial speederbike I had come across in the jungle. I went to my dresser and removed a large ruby. I dug behind my other stuff, looking for the other one. I found it, and went back to the bench. I picked up the two energy carbines, attached them to two sets of wires, an slipped each ruby into a canister that was on each bulging heap of wires. I put one of the hunk of wires down, and picked up one of the handlebars. I slid the wires into the handlebar, and screwed a small cap on the end of it, then did the same to the other.  
  
"And now the moment of truth..." I muttered, and stood up. I held both lightsaber hilts, and hit the buttons at the same time. Two dark red energy beams suddenly lanced out from the hilts. "All right..." I said, "Now just one more thing..."   
  
I returned to the workbench and picked up a clamp that had a button release on it. I placed the end of one of the hilts, and screwed it securely in place. Pressing the release button on the clamp, I slid the end of the other hilt into the clamp, and released the button. I stood up and held the lightsaber horizontally before me, and thumbed it on. The blades extended from each side of the long hilt. "Hehe... Im the only student at the academy with a dual-bladed lightsaber..." I thought.  
  
I turned the lightsaber off and set it on my dresser, just as R2-D2 rolled into my room. "Well, hello, Artoo. What can I do for you today?" I asked  
  
Artoo beeped something, and the translator responded that Luke was having a private conference tonight with all the students.  
  
"Ok. Bye, Artoo." I called to him as he rolled into the room across from mine. I laid down on the bed and slowly feel asleep.  
  
  
***  
  
My eyes immediately snapped open, and I sat up on the bed. "Time to go..." I mumbled to myself and pulled my robes on. I grabbed my new lightsaber and attached it to my belt, before walking out the door. I walked down the stairs, and saw Ax walking toward the main conference room. I increased my pace to catch up to him.  
  
"Hi." he said, without turning around.  
  
"Hi. Is this 'private meeting' gonna be for all the students?" I asked  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure if 'private' means just certain students, or all the students and not the parents that are still here." he said.  
  
We walked into the conference room. Several other students were already there, making conversation as they waited on Master Luke.  
  
"So, have you finished your lightsaber yet?" Ax asked.  
  
"Yeah, just a few hours ago." I told him, and held up the hilt.  
  
"Double-bladed. Nice." He commented, with a slight hint of jealousy in his tone.  
  
Luke walks in, "Greetings students. You may be wondering why I called you here. Well, I'll get right down to it. I had a dream of a Sith Warrior attacking me, and I didn't recognize the surroundings, but it was atop a Temple on this planet. I believe this is a forewarning of what will come. I didn't tell you earlier, because I didn't want to frighten your parents. I shall construct a team, who will search the planet for the Temple, as well as learning of the planet yourselves. You will take turns on the teams, everyone will go, at one point and time. I want you to be familiar of the planet if this Sith Warrior is real, and has an army..." Luke produced a list from his robes, "You all may go, but I wish to speak with Jacen, Jaina, Toby, Ax, and Zak."  
  
Everyone leaves, and we walk up to him. "Yes, Master Luke?" Ax asked.  
  
"I would like for you five to be the first team. You will, of course, have a day or so to gather your belongings. And," Luke turned to me, "for you to finish things."  
  
"Oh.... I finished my lightsaber, earlier." I told him.  
  
"That's good. Might save some time. When do you think you guys can be ready?" Luke asked.  
  
We told him we could be ready in the morning, and went back to our bunks. I gathered a few things and stuffed them into my leather bag, before lying down on my bed and immediately falling into a peaceful sleep.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
Narrated By:  
Ax  
  
  
  
  
Yawning, I crawled out of bed. I peeled on my old blue flightsuit, and jogged out of the Temple, and stopped at the edge of the lake. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the icy cold waters. I came up for air several minutees later, and dove back down. After three dives, I crawled out of the lake, feeling clean. I walked back to the Temple, to pack.  
  
When I got back to my room, I changed into my robes. I grabbed my leather bag and stuffed some extra robes, a little bit of food, and ome other supplies in it. I opened a droor and removed my cloak. I folded it up, and crammed it into the bag, as well. I closed the clasps, and slung it over my shoulder. Attaching my lightsaber to my belt, I walked out.  
  
I walked down to the training field in front of the Temple, where Master Luke was waiting. When we were all there, he handed each of us a comlink, for if we got seperated.  
  
"Good luck. And," Luke said, "May the Force be with you."  
  
"May the Force be with you, also, Uncle Luke." Jaina said.  
  
We turned and headed for the forest ahead. Within five minutes we reached the edge of the forest, and entered through a small parth Corran Horn had once used on his morning runs. As we encountered a curve in the path that would take us back around to the Temple, Jacen stopped.  
  
"Looks like we're going though there." Jacen said, flicking his lightsaber on. Soon, the darkness created by the canopy of trees was interrupted by the colors of my friends' lightsabers. I gazed around at the colors of the blades. Jacen's was green, and Jaina's a dark violet. Zak's was yellow, and Toby's double-blade was red. I glanced at the hilt of my own lightsaber, gently touched the button, and felt the energy vibrating from the blue blade. Jacen touched a large tree that was blocking the path, and it sizzld and burned. We continued dicing things out of our way for about twenty meters, and the forest seemed to get less dense. Not much better, but we could at least walk without destroying the plant life. We finally stoped at a small stream we had come across. I wiped sweat from my face, and sat down on a boulder.   
  
Jacen rubbed a cramp in his side, and said, "A Jedi knows no pain. Who said that, a dude who did nothing but train in a Temple?"  
  
I pulled my metalic water canister out of my bag and held it upside down. I squnted into it. Nothing. I tossed it into the stream, and forced it under the water. After it filled, I floated it back to me and took a gulp. I put the cap back on it and stood up.  
  
"Well... I guess we'd better get started." Jacen said, standing up as well.  
  
We all got back on the invisible path we had been following. Nothing too interesting happened. Jaina almost got bitten by a snake, but she dropped to the ground and sliced it in half a nanosecond before it closed its jaws on her neck. We came upon a narrow path which cut into a canyon. We continued on this path, with large walls of rock on both sides of us. At one time, it got so narrow we had to walk in single file. After an hour of hiking through the canyon path, Jacen, who was at the front, spotted an opening. When we reached it, we learned the forest started again at the edge of the canyon.  
  
"The sun will be down in another hour or so..." Jacen observed. "We'd better start making camp."  
  
"Jacen." Zak said, "I saw some large mammals scurrying along the edge of the cliffs when we were walking through the canyon. Ax and I could go get food."  
  
"Good idea. But if you don't catch anything, be back in at least an hour." Jacen told us.  
  
I grabbed some stuff from my bag, my blaster and my cloak, and followed Zak back to the canyon. When we reached the edge of the huge rock wall, Zak unholstered his blaster. I did the same. I hit the a button on it to change a setting, and aimed near the top of the cliff.  
  
"Ready. One. Two. Go!" Zak said. We fired our blasters, and a small hatch opened and a spear with a strong wire attached to it flew out. CLINK! CLINK! They hit. I tugged on my blaster to make sure it was secure, and hit another button. I pulled the trigger and quickly rose up the wall, with Zak just barely behind me. We reached the top, pulled ourselves up, and holstered our blasters.  
  
"So, where'd you see it?" I asked.  
  
"Over here." he said and began to walk along the edge. I, staying a little farther away from the side, followed. I sensed an uneasiness in Zak, but didn't intrude into his privacy. My mind started to drift off, thinking of other things, as I followed Zak.   
  
"Hmmm.." Zak said, "They're not here... Oh wait, I see footprints, we should follow these..."   
  
I nodded and followed him away from the edge of the cliff. I didn't fully pay attention to where we were going, my mind was thinking of other things, of where the Sith might be, of how he might hide his presence from Master Luke.  
  
I was deep in thought, so I didn't really notice when we reached the cliff that was the end of the canyon. Suddenly, Zak spun around, ignited his yellow blade, and slashed at my side. I jerked, grabbed my lightsaber, ignited it, and barely dodged the attack. It didn't touch my skin, but it did hit my belt. My blaster clattered noisily to the ground.  
  
"What are you doing!?!?" I asked.  
  
"What's it look like I'm doing?" he retorted, and slashed at my arm. I dropped to my back and stabbed at his legs. He flipped over to the right and I rolled to my feet. He sent three boulders flying at me. I sliced each in half, and they fell off the side of the cliff. I glanced back, and saw I was only two feet away from the edge. He raised his lightsaber, and ran toward me. I got ready to flip over his head. I leaped... he constructed a Force Barrier over his head, I hit it, fell... and he hit me with a Force Blow before I landed, which sent me teetering over the edge of the cliff...  
  
I reached for my blaster, but realized it had fallen off. I concentrated on slowing my descent, but the pain was too incredible. I landed in the small river that cut through the valley. I arched my back as I hit, the pain was just too much... I immediately put myself into a healing trance... and then everything went black.  
  
  
Chapter 4  
Narrated By:  
Toby  
  
  
Jacen, Jaina, and I entered the clearing which was near the edge of the forest. We unrolled blankets and tossed them over low tree branches to make really crappy tents. Jacen and Jaina fixed Ax and Zak's tents while I made a fire. After many tries, I finally got one going. I jerked as I felt a disturbance in the Force, an abscence... I heard something, and shrugged it off as the animals Zak and Ax were hunting. I saw a shadow through the trees, on top of the cliff. It jumped off, fires its grapple at the tree, and swung down. The figure, who was Zak, burst through the trees, breathlessly.  
  
"Ax... fell... cliff..." Zak panted.  
  
"Catch your breath, and then tell us." Jaina ordered him. Jacen ran to his tent, and brought back his water container. He shoved it in Zak's face. "Here!" he shouted.  
  
Zak drank the water and stood back up, "Ax... we were walking, following the footprints of the animals, and we came across the edge of the cliff, we were about to give up and come back, when this huge animal leaped from the bushes. It leaped onto Ax, and ripped his belt off. His lightsaber clattered over the cliff, and his blaster slid into the bushes. I grabbed my lightsaber and stabbed the beast, who had already forced Ax to the edge. I guess, stabbing my blade through it caused Ax to jump backward to avoid being sliced into. He.... I swung down to see if he.... I'm sorry... this is all my fault..."  
  
We all just stood there in silence for a moment.  
  
"You mean he's...? Are you sure?" I asked.  
  
"I think so. I.. I can take you back to the spot, if you wish." Zak managed.  
  
"Let's go." I said.  
  
"I'll stay here to guard the camp." Jacen said.  
  
Jaina, Zak, and I slowly walked to the cliff. We grappled up, and walked to the spot where Ax had spent his last moments. I looked around. Didnt see much.  
  
"So, where's this so-called beast at?" Jaina asked, skeptically.  
  
"When I was running back to get you guys, I heard a hideous scream, when I looked, there was a large bird of prey swooping away with the beast in it's talons."  
  
Toby peeked over the cliff. "I don't see him..." I called. I turned around. Saw his blaster, and belt. I walked over and picked it up. I walked over to the cliff, and hurled it over the edge, with a sudden surge of anger coursing through my body.  
  
Zak looked over, "Well.. uh.. I don't want to think of it, but maybe the beast came back for him... or the current was strong enough to pull him downstream..."  
  
I walked away from the cliff, thinking that he couldn't be dead, and hoping that, somehow, my friend had survived.   
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
Narrated By:  
Ax  
  
  
I moaned as I tried to open my eyes. They didn't open. Ok, lets try to do this blind... I thought, and shifted my left leg. Pain screeched through my body. Left leg probably broken... this sucks... I tried to move my right leg. Slight pain, not as bad. I slowly climbed out of the stream, hopping on my right leg. I tried, once more, to open my eyes. I could, although painfully, open my eyes slightly. I noticed a cave on the shore and decided to take shelter. I hopped over to it. I flopped down on the ground and almost lost my breath. Pain sensors in my leg sreamed at my brain. I relaxed my head on the ground, and noticed an animal skeleton not ten feet away from me. I shuddered. "Lets see if I can remember how to do this..." I told myself as I tried to put myself in a deep healing trance. I closed my eyes. And fell asleep...  
  
***  
  
I woke up, and pain surged through my body. Wasn't nearly as bad as before, but it was still there. The second thing I noticed, was hot breath on my face. I froze. Gulped, and opened my eyes. An extremely large sort of pig was standing over me. I sat up. It attacked. I was ready. It lunged toward my face. I reached out my hand, flung it with the Force. It flew through the air and crashed into the cave wall. It didn't move. I tried to stand, and noticed the pain in my left leg was gone. Now the pain was coming from my back... I guessed that pain was there earlier, just smaller and insignificant. I stopped. Heard voices... couldn't make out what they were. I listened harder, and could make out certain words.  
  
"Where's... beast..?"  
  
"Running back... hideous scream... large bird... beast.. its talons..."  
  
"Beast?" I thought. "What beast? Another one of these wild boar things?" I started to call out to them, but decided against it. It might be Zak or... the Sith Warrior.. and then it clicked. Zak was somehow connected to the Sith... I guessed. And then something fell from the top of the cliff and landed on the other edge of the stream. I couldn't be sure because my eyes were squinted, but it looked like my blaster belt... I started to go see what it was, but stopped. I slowly crawled over to the boar and began to check it out. It was dead. It's skull had fractured when I hit it against the wall. Well... I thought, the thought is gross, but I guess dinner found me... I waited a while, until I was sure the people on the cliff were gone, and went out to the stream. I looked around, found my lightsaber, and hit the button. The blue beam sprang to life. Glad this wasn't damaged... I thought, relieved, as I walked over to where the belt had fallen. And then the Force was drained out of me. What the!?! I thought, frantically. I looked up and saw several green lizard creatures in the trees. I bent down, picked up my blaster and my belt, and quickly got back to the cave. When I got back across the stream, it was like someone had just flicked on a switch... The Force suddenly just flowed freely through me, and then I realized what the creatures were. I didn't know there were any Ysalamiri on Yavin 4... I pondered. The Ysalamiri are creatures who absorb the Force and block it. Anything that enters into their span of magneticism, or whatever it was they used to block the Force, had the Force sucked from them. I walked back out, and gathered some stones and branches. I hovered them in front of me as I re-entered the cave. I placed the stones in a circle, tossed the brances inside of it, with an exception of one of them, and grabbed my lightsaber. I set it on low and activated it. I placed it over the branches. They began to warm, and slowly burn. When they were burning, I sharpened one end of the other stick I had laid out with my lightsaber. I burned the top layer of flesh off of the boar, wrinkled my nose at the smell, and levitated that out of the cave. I sliced layers of the juicy meat underneath that first layer, and stabbed them onto the sharp stick. I went and sat down on a rock, yawned, and hovered the meat over the fire. When it looked brown enough, I hovered the meat onto a large boulder that was in the cave. When it cooled, I sliced small pieces of it with my lightsaber, and greedily ate it. I ate most of the meat I had cooked, while staring out at the darkening sky. I placed the rest of the meat, both cooked and uncooked, into a corner of the cave. I placed a Force barrier over it so insects couldn't get to it, and inspected my lightsaber to make sure that it was indeed fine. I flicked it on, and inspected the blade. It appeared to be fine, and I swept it around the cave. The blue blade suddenly flickered and died. Crap... I thought. Oh, well, I'll have to fix it in the morning... too dark now... I hit the button, set it down, laid down, grabbed my cloak to cover myself up with, and fell asleep.  
  
***  
  
I woke up, rubbed some green stuff from my eyes, and, feeling fully healed and refreshed, yawned. I was incredibly hungry, so I grabbed my lightsaber to restart the fire, and remembered that it was out of commission. Groaning, I grabbed the hilt of my lightsaber, and using the Force, pried the cover off of it. I checked the wires, and they all seemed to be in order, none were loose... Then I noticed a crack in the saphire. Great.. just perfect.. I thought. Where am I going to get another crystal...? Oh, wait, maybe... I grabbed my blaster, and pried the side covering off of it as well. Since it was custom made, and also the newest and most expensive kind around, it didn't use charges or energy carbines. There was a crystal instead, which sent the energy into the core of the blaster, arranged some particles, and sent out a small discharge which was the blaster fire... I wonder if this blaster will still fire using a cracked saphire instead of a perfect diamond... I thought, and removed the diamond. I took the saphire out of the lightsaber and replaced it with the diamond, and put the saphire into the blaster. The blaster should still work, since only a small discharge is needed... I guessed. I picked up the lightsaber hilt, and hit the button. A new, silver blade sprang to life. Yes! I silently cheered. Now to test the blaster... I picked up the blaster, turned it to the blaster setting, and fired into a tree. The red spear of light lanced out, and burned a neat hole through the tree. I wondered why the laser wasn't blue, but guessed it was because of the re-arranging of particles. I walked back into the cave, put my belt on, and attached my blaster and lightsaber. I slid my cloak on, and walked out of the cave.  
  
  
Chapter 6  
Narrated By:  
Toby  
  
  
We all walked back to the campsite in silence. I noticed Jaina kept glancing at Zak, as if she suspected him of something. When we walked back into the camp, Jacen looked up hopefully. His expression changed when he saw how we looked. He didn't say anything, just handed out the food. We all ate in silence, went to our tents, and just laid there. I heard snoring, and guessed it was coming in the direction of Zak's tent. Well, I dont blame him for sleeping, its been a hard day, but our friend just died, so he shouldnt be able to sleep... I thought. But, in a few hours, I myself was asleep. Couldn't hold out after such a long day. The next day I got up really early. Ate breakfast, just as the other woke up. They ate, and Jacen was the first to speak, "We need to contact Uncle Luke." he said.  
  
"I will." Zak said, "You guys finish eating." And he walked over to the supply tent. He walked back, empty handed. "Guys... where are the comlinks?" he asked  
  
"They were in the supply tent." Jacen said.  
  
"Keyword. Were. But, where are they now?" Zak retorted.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Jacen asked.  
  
"They aren't in there." Zak told him.  
  
Jacen got up, and went to the supply tent. He returned with a dumbfounded look. "We have to go back and tell Uncle Luke." he told us.  
  
"No!" Zak burst out, and then more peacefully said, "You heard Master Luke, he said we must not turn back for anything."  
  
"As much as I hate this, he did say that.." I admitted.  
  
"Well, we should get back on track as soon as possible. That way, we will get back sooner and tell of Ax's... um... death." Jacen commanded. He walked over to his tent and began to pack everything up, stuffing it all into his bag.   
  
When we were all packed up, we left. We hiked in silence for several hours, stopping only at streams to drink, or to eat. At nightfall I was sure we had covered ten miles. I had the aching feet to prove it.  
  
"I'd like to go further..." Jacen said.  
  
"You can go ahead, but I am completely burned out. I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning but I need a little rest." I stammered.  
  
"Well, rest would help..." Jacen agreed.  
  
"Duh..." Zak muttered. Jaina giggled.  
  
We ate some things from our packs. Jaina found some lillies and surprised us all by making a special lily juice. "Mom showed me how to make it." She told us, when we asked about it. It was the best thing I'd had in a long time. I finished eating, and decided to get to sleep.  
  
I took all the metal items from my bag, rolled it up, used it as a pillow, and drifted off to sleep.  
  
***  
  
I 'awoke' to see the others still sleeping softly by the campfire. I sat up, groggily, and thought to myself I'm going to have to start putting myself in a trance before I go to sleep... I've been waking up at least once every night, lately.. I stood up, stretched, and snatched up my other bag that had my dueling supplies in it. I reached in and pulled out the small droid I carried with me, and walked off into the forest, so that the others wouldn't hear me. After I was about 30 meters from the campsite, I entered a clearing that, somehow, I knew would be there. I walked to the middle of it and tossed the small, spherical droid into the air. It soared up into the air and I backflipped ten feet away as it began to hover in the center of the field. I drew my lighsaber and ignited one end of it. The droid fired and I blocked to the left, sending the red bolt off into the forest. The droid fired another one and I deflected it as well. Suddenly, it fired three times. I deflected one of them and leaped over the other two. The droid fired four rapid bolts, I deflected one and ignited the other end of my lightsaber, which I deflected the other three with. It continued like this for several minutes. Fire. Deflect. Fire. Deflect. Fire. Fire. Fire. Deflect. Finally, I deflected a shot and it flew back at the droid, de-activating its shield, which shut it down. I walked over to the droid and attached it to a long clip on my belt, next to my lightsaber. I looked up, suddenly, and saw a small glimmer in the forest... It was there one second and gone the next. I decided to investigate. I began to walk over in that direction and saw the glimmer two more times. When I got there, I could see someone... It looked like a boy, and he had his back to me... and he was glowing. The boy turned around and I gasped.  
  
"Ax!" I whispered.  
  
He knodded.   
  
"What are you doing here?" I asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" he inquired.  
  
"Well, Zak said you fell off the cliff, and if you're ok, why aren't you back with us?" I demanded.  
  
"That's it. I'm not ok. I've come to warn you. Something dangerous lies in the forest. Be careful." And, with that, he faded from view.  
  
I took a step back, tripped and fell for what seemed longer than I should have, and I jerked involuntarily and sat up. I was back at the camp site, and Jaina was sitting beside me.  
  
"Are you ok?" She asked.  
  
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked her, frowning.  
  
"Well, you were sleeping, and making weird noises... I thought maybe you were having a nightmare." she told me.  
  
"Then it was all just a dream..." I muttered, realization dawning on me. I told her about the dream, and she listened with great interest.  
  
"Well," She started, "Sometimes Uncle Luke has dreams that he says are premonitions or whatever. Visions of the future. I've never had one, but who knows? Maybe you had one. Or maybe you've had too much lily juice."   
  
"Thanks for listening to me." I said, and rolled over, about to go back to sleep. I felt something on my waist and reached down. It was my lightsaber... but I had taken it off before I went to bed... Now I wasn't so sure that it was a dream...  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 7  
Narrated By:  
Ax  
  
  
I woke up just as Yavin's sun was 'rising'. I sat up, groggily, and wiped the leaves I had slept on from my robes. I snatched up my cloak, which I had used as a blanket, and wiped it off as well. I looked around for my leather bag that I had found in the river where I had fallen. Inside of it was food; berries, nuts, wild boar meat. I found it near the tree I was sleeping under. Opening it, I pulled out some cooked meat and ate it conservatively. I gazed up into the morning sky and saw a very large bird in the distance. I watched it as I wrapped the meat up in a large leaf. Suddenly, as the bird swooped near a mountain, a large rancor-like creature leaped up and ripped it from the sky. I gasped, and thougt to myself Maybe I should find a way to camoflauge myself so that if I ever run into that thing, or one of its relatives, they might not see me... I looked around, stumped at how to camoflauge myself. I could always use the Jedi mind trick that makes it seem as if you are not there, but that requires a lot of concentration, which I needed for the journey. I could attach branches to my cloak but how would I keep them on there? Wait.. yes.. that might work.. I grabbed my cloak and looked around for a berry patch. I saw another cave and investigated it. It seemed unoccupied so I decided to spend my day there, after I was done. There was a patch of black berries near the mouth of the cave. I gathered as much of them as I could into my cloak and carried them into the cave. I returned to the tree I had slept under and got my other things. Once I had brought them to the cave, I spread the cloak out on the ground. I sat down and placed the berries on the cloak so they were evenly spread out. After I found a large stone, I began bashing the berries on the cloak. The juice seeped out, staining the brown leather to a darker, almost black color. I repeated this process on the other side and let it dry while I slept in a healing trance.   
  
I awoke just as it was getting darker outside the cave. Earlier on, I had decided it would be safer to travel after dark. That way, I could have the advantage of not being seen. Or at least I hoped I had that advantage. I attached my belt around my waist, and pulled my cloak on. Just as I had thought, the cloak was almost the same color as the night sky. I pulled the hood-like part of the cloak over my head so that it would be even harder for anything to spot me. Walking slowly, carefully being as silent as possible, I headed out for that night's journey.   
  
Stopping ever so often for a break, I continued walking for several hours. I ignored the slight, throbbing pain in my feet. I stepped over a rooted-up tree branch and heard something. I froze. There was a sound... a sound like something quite large stepping through the woods, cautiously. I noticed I was standing on the edge of a small clearing and backed into the forest, just as an eight foot tall beast leaped out. It soared over half of the clearing and landed ten feet from him. It was one of the creatures that appeared to be somehow related to the rancor species. I decided to call them rancors, seeing as how the only difference between them was the eyes were larger than a normal rancor's and they had a third appendage jutting out of their chests. It was tiny compared to the one I had seen slaughter the giant bird. I guessed it was a baby, and where there is a baby, there is usually a mother nearby. I heard another faint noise. It sounded like thunder. I glanced into the sky and saw many stars and one of Yavin's moons. No clouds. I ruled out the possibility of thunder, and the noise grew louder. It was constant, like the beating of a heart. And then it stopped. The air was filled with a terrifying, bone-shattering roar. Another of the beasts leapt into the clearing, and the ground shook upon its impact. This one was at least three times larger than the other one. I gasped and held my breath, hoping the beasts hadn't heard me. The smaller one hadn't noticed when I had stumbled into the woods, but the large one was older, more experienced in hunting. I slowly got closer to the ground until I was lying on my chest. Covered by the darkened cloak, I hoped the beast didn't detect heat sources. If so, it would immediately spot me. I hadn't yet learned the technique of slowing your breathing and dropping your body temperature so that you appeared to be dead. Master Luke said it required the utmost of concentration. Far off in the distance, another large roar was heard. The celebratory roar of a beast catching it's prey. The large rancor turned to the small one, reached down, picked it up, and hurled it onto it's own back. The baby rancor holding on tight, the bigger one sped off in the direction the roar had come from.   
  
Sighing in relief, I sat up and wiped sweat from my forehead. I stood up and continued to walk toward the north. An hour or so later, the sun was rising. I pulled my cloak off and folded it up. I stuffed it into my bag as best I could and tossed it into a large tree closely surrounded by many more. The leather strap of the bag caught on a branch ten yards in the air. I leapt in the air and clutched at the lowest limb. I climbed up and sat down on a rather large branch just underneath were my bag had gotten caught. I looked out into the forest, but saw nothing; The leaves of the tree hid me well. Making sure I was on a secure branch, I slowly slid into the healing trance, thinking maybe the blisters on my feet would be healed by the next nightfall...  
  
  
  
Chapter 8  
Narrated By:  
Toby  
  
  
We continued walking, even though the sun was going down.  
  
"You guys, it's almost night, can't we stop for the day?" I asked.  
  
"Not yet." Jacen and Zak said in unision.  
  
I glanced over at Zak and noticed he had a Navigational Computer.  
  
"What's that for, Zak?" I asked him.  
  
"Huh? Oh. I was checking how much we have to walk each day in order to make it back to the Temple within a week." He responded.  
  
"How much further do we have to go today?" I asked, wiping perspiration from my forehead.  
  
"Not too much longer, actually there should be a rather large clearing up ahead where we can spend the night..." He replied.  
  
Jacen, who was a little bit ahead of all of us, pushed back a few large leaves to reveal the clearing.  
  
"Wow..." he said, under his breath.  
  
The clearing wasn't just large. It was huge. There were three temples, one large one and two smaller ones. The smaller ones were in front of the larger one, and behind it there was something that resembled the largest landing pad I had ever seen.  
  
"How convenient." Jaina said. "We can sleep in one of those temples."  
  
"I wonder if these temples was used as one of the secret Rogue bases during the battle with the Empire.." I thought aloud.  
  
"Who cares?" Zak asked.  
  
"Who cares?" I mocked. "That battle was a major part of our history."  
  
Zak shrugged and continued to walk down toward the largest temple.  
  
I looked up at the top of it and thought I saw someone standing up there... I squinted in the oncoming darkness and shrugged it off as a shadow.  
  
"Stop here." Jacen said, halting at one of the smaller temples.  
  
"Huh? Why?" Zak asked.  
  
"It will be safer here. We shouldn't enter the temples. We don't know whats in there." Jacen explained.  
  
"And when do you ever think about safety?" Zak retorted.  
  
"Listen, Uncle Luke left me in charge and you will do as I say." Jacen said, firmly.  
  
"Yeah, ok, fine." Zak said.  
  
So we made our camp at the base of one of the smaller temples.   
  
We had already eaten, and were about to go to sleep, when Zak interrupted us.  
  
"Guys, come here, quick!" Zak said, running over to the other small temple. I noticed he was carrying two torches which he used to light a campfire there, near the forest. Then he placed the torches on small dug-outs in the side of the temple specifically for torches.  
  
We walked over there, yawning. "Why are you using torches? Why don't you just use your glow-rod?" I asked.  
  
"Because they are weak." Zak said, when we had all gotten near him, "And so are you."  
  
With that, he drew and switched on his lightsaber. The yellow energy blade hummed to life in his hands.  
  
"What are you doing, Zak? Put that away." Jacen instructed.  
  
"No, I wont. And I don't take orders from the likes of you anymore. I am superior, and I will prove it."Zak said, moving closer to Jacen. "Draw your lightsaber and duel!"  
  
"No way. You're our friend. We won't fight you." Jacen said.  
  
"Correction." Said a voice from the shadows. A silver lightsaber blade sprung to life, and the voice from the dark stepped out. "We don't want to fight you. But we will if we have to."  
  
"Ax!" I exclaim.  
  
"What?! No way!" Zak says. "I killed you!"  
  
"Then I guess I'm a ghost." Ax says.  
  
Zak's face becomes noticeably paler than before.  
  
"Well.. well.. you'll never win!" Zak protests. "There are dark soldiers through this forest, surrounding us. And if you start to win, they will attack."   
  
"Well, we might not survive... but we will have time to defeat you." Ax says. "Now, you can come peacefully and return to the light side or you can die. Your choice."   
  
Suddenly, a ship appears over-head. I begin to roll into the forest to escape from danger but I reliaze its a harm-less cargo freighter. A spotlight appears from the ship's belly and illuminates the whole area. I immediately step back in alarm as I notice the dark Jedi surrounding us. They were dressed in all black. Everything black.. even the hilt of their lightsabers.  
  
Jaina, who was standing to the right and slightly behind Jacen, got an idea, "Jacen. Remember that transponder Uncle Luke gave you, told you to activate it if you got in trouble, and he would come pick us up?" she whispered.  
  
"Yeah." Jacen whispered back, trying not to move his lips so Zak couldnt see they were planning.  
  
"Where's it at?" Jaina asks.  
  
"In my bag. At the other campsite." Jacen replies. "If you guys cover me, I can make a run for it."  
  
"Ok." We all whisper.  
  
Jacen, Jaina, and I all reach for our lightsabers.  
  
"I shall not return to the light-side." Zak says.  
  
"Suit yourself." Ax says, "Now, what was this about us not being to defeat you?"   
  
"You can't. There's no way." Zak says.  
  
"Well, I'd like a fair fight. You and me. Call off all your soldier dudes, and I'll get my friends not to help me. Deal?" Ax asks.  
  
"Why not?" Zak agrees.  
  
"Go, now." Ax whispers to Jacen.  
  
Ax springs forward and attacks Zak. Zak blocks and the two lightsabers clash, sending off a shower of sparks.  
  
Jacen ignites his lightsaber and begins running toward the other campsite. Jaina and I follow close behind, humming lightsabers in our hand. Three soldiers leap in our path. "Go, Jacen!" I instruct and he flips over their heads.  
  
I ignite the other side of my lightsaber and attack the two soldiers on the left, Jaina takes the one on the right. I slash at one with the bottom part of my lightsaber and he falls to the ground, bleeding from both knee caps. His legs lay on the ground writhing, two feet away. I de-activate one side and attack the remaining soldier. I easily defeat him, as he is staring at the fate of his fallen comrade. I glance over at Jaina, who is towering over a soldier with a smoking hole in his chest.   
  
Jacen runs back up to us, "I signaled for help. Uncle Luke should be here soon."  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
Narrated By:  
Ax  
  
  
I leaped into the air as Zak's yellow blade whizzed under my legs, barely missing my feet. I land, and swing my blade up high. He looks up and blocks. I use this advantage and kick him in the stomache. He falls onto his back. I run over to the others.  
  
"Did you signal him?" I ask. Jaina nods.  
  
I hear a grinding noise and glance up at the freighter ship. The bottom hull was moving, sliding upwards onto the side of the ship. Once it got there, it revealed another hull. I could barely see about twenty circular incisions on the hull. Slowly, one of the incisions began to move downward... and I reliazed it was a platform. As it neared, I could see that in the center of the circular platrom was a thick cable, extending all the way up to the ship. Holding onto that cable, and standing on the platform, was another figure dressed in all black. He leapt off of it and slowly walked towards us. I notice he is wearing a strange thing on his head that looks like a helmet. It had a coiled serpent on top of the helmet, with its head raised, ready to strike. I swallow as my mouth becomes dry. He is about ten meters away when I hear a whirring noise. Sort of like an engine... And then, a small six passenger speeder appeared above the treetops. It lands near us and Luke hops out. He slowly walks towards us, his hand resting on the lightsaber clipped to his belt.  
  
"Where is Zak?" Luke asks, as he reaches us.  
  
"He betrayed us. He is of the dark side now." Toby said.  
  
The dark warrior steps up to Luke. "So, we finally meet."  
  
"Yes. Who are you?" Luke asks.  
  
"My identity is of no concern to you, weakling." The Sith says.  
  
With that, he reaches for his lightsaber and a long, red blade emerges. Luke's own green blade springs to life and they meet, spitting sparks eveywhere.  
  
Then, several other dark warriors emergy from the forest and attack us. One leaps at me and attacks. I block and swing at his stomache. His legs and his torso fall to the ground. I leap at another dark warrior.  
  
"Here's a tip." I say, "Always keep a Protective Force Energy around your lightsabers when you fight. It keeps enemies from doing this." I make a sweeping motion with my free hand and his lightsaber flies from his hand and lands several hundred feet away. The warrior turns and run.  
  
I glance back at Master Luke and the Sith, who are constantly attacking and blocking, neither one scoring a hit. I look up at the ship and see nine or ten of the platforms lowering. Several of the Dark Warriors run towards the platforms, seeking escape. Toby stands fifteen feet away, fighting a warrior, Jaina kneels beside Jacen, who is bleeding and barely concious. I run over to him and carry him to Master Luke's speeder. Toby strikes down her opponent and runs toward the falling platforms.   
  
"Come on, Jaina, we have to follow them! Jacen will be fine." I tell her.  
  
The Sith Master strikes at Luke and draws back, "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!" And with that, he begins to run toward the ship's platforms. I, Jaina, and Master Luke follow. Toby had already reached it and had grabbed on to one of the platforms. Jaina and Master Luke hop on as they begin to rise. I leap up and barely grab onto the bottom of one. Slowly, I pull myself up and hang on as we enter into the unknown...  
  
  
Chapter 10  
Narrated By:   
Jaina  
  
  
I get into the ship, and climb off of the platform. To the left of me is Luke, beside him is Toby. To the right of me is Ax. We all walk down a hallway until we come to a corridor that splits into four seperate directions.   
  
"Let's split up. We can cover more ground that way." my Uncle, Luke Skywalker, says.  
  
I walk down the hall farthest to the left. It turns left and left again and then right. "Where is everyone on this ship.." I wonder. I turn another corner and hear two men talking.  
  
"Send orders to burn everything on the ground. Implode the temples. No evidence of our true identies must be found." One says.  
  
"Yes, sir." The other replies.  
  
"Oh, no!" I think. "Jacen's down there!"   
  
I quickly look around and see a large glass panel marked with words "Escape Pod". I kick in the glass and slide down the tunnel and into the pod. Firing the thrusters, I slowly glide down to the planet. I climb out of the pod and run over to the speeder. I climb into it and hit the ignition and maneuver it into the forest where it can't be seen. I turn the engines off and wait.  
  
  
Chapter 11  
Narated By:  
Ax  
  
  
I run down the hall, make several turns, until I emerge at the bridge of the ship. I look around and see Master Luke run out of another hall. He runs over to an empty computer and types in several commands. I look out the viewport and see an escape pod lowering to the ground. I increase the magnification and see Jaina hop out.  
  
"Master Luke, Jaina is on the ground, she took an escape pod." I tell him.  
  
"Good. Now, where's Toby?" he asks.  
  
Seconds later, she emerges from another hallway and hits a panel on the wall. A door quickly closes and the sound of pounding upon it quickly follows.   
  
"We.. have.. to.. get.. out.. of.. here.. tons.. of.. warriors.. will.. be.. in.. here.. soon.." She says, panting.  
  
"No problem." Master Luke says. He points to a large, dark hole in the floor.  
  
"Jump through there." He says. "Its the escape pod."  
  
Toby jumps down, then me, then Master Luke. Luke powers up the pod and we blast down to the ground.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Run!" Master Luke yells, as soon as we emergy from the escape pod.  
  
"Huh? Why?" Toby asks.  
  
"Just run!" Luke instructs.  
  
We run until we reach the edge of the forest, and Master Luke instructs us to lie on the ground, on our faces. Minutes later, the silence is pierced by a loud explosion. I turn and look up to the sky and see the burning ship slowly fall from the sky and crash onto the large landing pad.  
  
  
  
Chapter 12  
Narrated By:  
Toby  
  
  
It was two days after the explosion of the Sith Freighter Ship. Uncle Luke as well as New Republic Officials were sent to inspect the temples and the remains of the ship. Nothing of importance was found.  
  
Ax and I were walking back from the lake, after swimming for a few hours. Master Luke had given us permission to take a break from our training for a few days while we re-cooperated.  
  
"Hey, you wanna practice dueling?" Ax asks, "I wanna see how handy you are with that double-blade."  
  
"Sure," I tell him, "But I have to change first."   
  
We walk to my room. He waits outside, by the door, as I go in. I remove the wet clothes from my body and walk to the closet to get a clean and dry robe. I open it, push past the cermonial robes and kneel at the bottom of the closet. And there, sitting atop the neatly folded stack of robes, sat the Serpent Helmet of the Sith Lord.  
  



End file.
